User:MisterSinister/Martial Artist's Manual (3.5e Sourcebook)/Mundane Arts/Bloody Alley

Bloody Alley

Less of a martial art and more of a practical survival skill, the techniques of Bloody Alley are not taught in any dojo or class. Instead, they are learned by instinct and pain, in the dark alleys and dirty streets of cities. Those who learn this 'art' are toughened survivors, having fought in many street battles, with the scars to show for it.

No-one knows exactly who invented Bloody Alley. It is quite possible that it has no single origin, instead consisting of the lessons learned by hardened street fighters everywhere. It doesn't revere any particular names or individual approaches; each practitioner ultimately decides how they practice Bloody Alley, and no two of them fight in exactly the same way. Some even argue that calling Bloody Alley a 'style' is misleading, as two different fighters who both claim to use it may fight in very different ways.

Bloody Alley teaches its practitioners to be brutal, tough and practical at the same time. Every Bloody Alley artist is taught to be tough, to take pain and keep fighting regardless; it is not unheard of for those who use this art to drive themselves further onto the blade of an opponent to get a good hit in. They can be beaten down once, twice, three times, but they will still get up, spit out a few teeth, wipe the blood off their jaw, and start fighting once again. Bloody Alley also teaches that there is no such thing as a 'fair fight' - only fights that you win, and fights that you lose. No tactic, however despicable or cruel, is considered beneath those who fight with its forms; if anything, not using every means to win the fight is what is beneath someone wielding Bloody Alley. Lastly, fights in an alley or a dark street rarely give you the opportunity to prepare or fight with an actual weapon. Thus, Bloody Alley practitioners learn to use anything that comes to hand as a weapon - a broken bottle, a barrel lid, or even another opponent - so that there is never a time when they are not armed. This is not to say that they never wield weapons; instead, they understand that the luxury of having one won't always be theirs.

Learning Bloody Alley: A practical and somewhat 'dirty' art, Bloody Alley doesn't practice the formal methods and training techniques of many other martial arts. It is not typically taught in any structured way, or learned from any particular master. While those that use Bloody Alley do share techniques, they don't usually 'teach' as such. Those who wish to learn it have to be hands-on - and survive - before they get taught much of anything. According to those advanced in this style, the best way to learn Bloody Alley is to live in one.

Style Weapons: Any club, any thrown weapon, dagger, improvised weapons, unarmed strike

Style Bonus: You are considered proficient with improvised weapons. Additionally, any improvised weapon you wield deals damage as if it were one size category larger. However, this puts a lot of stress on these weapons; if you roll a 1 on an attack roll, the weapon breaks at the end of your turn.

Style Skills: Athletics, Endurance

DC Ability Score: Constitution or Intelligence